This musical is based on the movie Little Shop of Horrors, filmed in 1960 by Roger Corman in less than a week using all the same sets as the previous movie that was shot on the lot. It is regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, but the lure of a plant begging for food was too much for Howard Ashman to resist. He had fond memories of watching the film on late night television when he was a child, even inspiring him to write a Little Shop knockoff when he was 16-years-old. It took him and Alan Menkin 8 months to write the show, and it earned them their first nomination for Best Original Song. Rightfully so, these numbers completely slap, and I even found myself humming along to the few doo-wop numbers. The musical was later adapted into this movie, and while it is wayyyyy less dark than its source material, it is incredibly enjoyable.
It’s a week after an unexpected astronomical event and Audrey and Seymour are working at a fairly vacant flower shop that has been struggling due to its location on Skid Row. Seymour is a bit of a bumbling (but well meaning) orphan that shop owner Cosmo Castorini Mr. Mushnik gave shelter and a job to several years ago. Audrey is in an abusive relationship with some drip, which continually distresses Mr. Mushnik, and most importantly Seymour, who timidly carries a torch for Audrey. It’s easy to fall in love with her – she’s sincere, earnest, and incredibly kind to everyone (even to those who don’t deserve it). Seymour and Audrey both dream of lifting themselves out of poverty, and Seymour stumbles into a plan to do it… Audrey II.
On the day of the solar eclipse, Seymour purchased a strange and unusual plant for $1.95. He convinces Mr. Mushnik to place the plant, which he’s named Audrey II (EEP!), in the window to attract customers, and it immediately brings my favorite mockumentairan Christopher Guest into the fold. He buys $50$100 (TWICE AS MANY) worth of roses, which starts a chain reaction of orders being placed because of Audrey II’s lure.
After an exciting day of non-stop business, Audrey II starts to look a little down. While Seymour laments he doesn’t know how to take care of Audrey II’s needs, he accidentally cuts himself, triggering Audrey II’s bloodlust. Seymour begins to slice his hands to feed Audrey II, which is exactly as gross as it sounds and skeeved me out to no end. The constant stream of blood causes the plant to grow larger and larger, making it harder to satiate its appetite.
Audrey II starts to gain a local following, earning a feature in the papers and a spot on a local radio show hosted by John Candy. This completely changes the trajectory of Mr. Mushnik’s business for the better, and with Seymour’s new found success, he feels the pressure to keep Audrey II healthy, even at the detriment of his own health. With all the new money coming in, Seymour provides Audrey a path to leave her sadist boyfriend, Steve Martin, but her fears of his retaliation keep her in the relationship.
Disheartened by Audrey’s refusal, Seymour returns to the flower shop and is surprised when Oogie Boogie prototype Audrey II starts talking to him. See, Twoey is hungry enough to eat a person, and convinces Seymour him and human Audrey’s life would be a lot easier if The Dentist were no longer living. Not wanting to lose a limb to keep the plant alive, and figuring The Dentist was as worthy of a victim as anyone else, Seymour visits The Dentist at his place of business with the intention of turning him into plant food. He chickens out at the last minute, but lucky for Seymour, The Dentist’s Mad Max-like laughing gas mask asphyxiates him instead. Now with her abuser gone, Audrey and Seymour confess their feelings for each other. If Leslie Ann Warren and Ellen Greene have taught me anything its that I have a weakness for blondes that use that baby voice. I’m basic af.
The quandary Seymour now finds himself in is how to cut Dickhead DDS into digestible parts for Audrey II. Mr. Mushnik witnesses Seymour hacking up the body with an axe and proves he’s not a homie by threatening to rat out Seymour to the cops unless he abandons the financially lucrative Audrey II and runs away. Audrey II solves this problem fairly quickly by slurping up Mushnik, bringing its body count up to two.
What I found kind of curious about this adaptation is Seymour’s lack of agency in these deaths. He doesn’t save the dentist, but he doesn’t shoot him either. In the stage show, Seymour deliberately lures Mr. Mushnik into Audrey II, whereas this film version he kind of backs him up into the plant, but tries to stop his consumption last minute. It makes me wonder if perhaps someone thought the audience wouldn’t be chill with Seymour knowing he’d kill everyone around Audrey in order to stay close to her. Rick Moranis’ dorky charm has its limits, apparently.
With Mr. Mushnik gone, Seymour’s star continues to rise, but he can’t take the guilt of continuing to feed Audrey II. Seymour proposes marriage to Audrey and decides now is the perfect opportunity for the two of them to run away from Skid Row. Audrey II has other plans, however. The otherworldly plant sets a trap for Seymour by revealing to Audrey she can talk, luring her over to the flower shop and skirting the line of reenacting tentacle hentai wayyyyy too closely.
Seymour rescues Audrey at the last minute, confesses to his secret of sort-off letting people die to feed the plant, and Audrey weirdly doesn’t seem to care about Seymour’s part the plant murders? Instead, they decide to kill Audrey II to prevent it from multiplying, electrocute it, and run off to the suburbs to live happily ever after… the end?
The original ending to the film had Audrey II eat Seymour, multiply, and take over the world, which I think would have been flippin’ sweet!? We’re talking horror here, right? It’s in the title of the show. This happy ending bullshit felt strange when I watched this movie the first time, and the off-tone feeling was justified when I found the alternate ending. How cool would it have been to watch Audrey II Godzilla New York City and burst through the theater screen?? Like COME ON, there’s no contest!! WHO APPROVED THIS CHANGE?? The only clue I could suss out was in an interview with Ellen Greene where she suggested that audiences didn’t want to see Audrey die, which, fair. I loved Audrey, too. But that doesn’t mean that Seymour can’t die, or that the whole world can’t be destroyed. I mean, at that point Seymour kind of deserved to be consumed by his own creation.
The alternate ending was shot so perfectly and showcases Lyle Conway’s fabulous vision for Audrey II. Frank Oz was the only director that could have made this picture – the puppet looked so flippin’ fantastic that it was hard for me to believe it was all practical effects. There was a whole team of puppeteers that operated Audrey II, and every vine that moved, every tiny Audrey II that sang, every lip curl, and every goop-filled pore helped bring her to life. It was incredibly interesting for me to see what other productions did to create the several Audrey IIs that are needed to show her progressive growth throughout the show. And if this first act Audrey II doesn’t give you nightmares, I don’t know what will.
Sweet dreams, kiddos! And remember, don’t feed your plants body parts, it (almost) always ends badly!